Estuans fauillae
by Foxbracken - Phoenix Everren
Summary: Ember lives with a loving family, consisting of a mother and sister. But when the tenant moves in, everything starts to spiral out of control, and Ember finds herself seeing that not everything she grew up on is true... /On Hiatus\
1. Chapter 1

"When's David coming?" Inquired a young, tall girl; her jagged, sloppy cut, and fiery red hair trickling in front of her blazing golden eyes. Her dark blue, dragon pictured pajamas looking very rumpled, as if she was tossing and turning on her bed.

A young woman, perhaps in her thirties, turned around from washing the dishes, her red hair falling around her shoulder, green eyes sparkling as she smiled. "Soon; if he's not stuck a college. Now, Ember, you should be in bed resting."

"But mom!" Protested Ember before breaking out into a harsh cough.

Her mother, Elizabeth, sighed and placed down the plate she was washing into the sink, wringing her hands dry with a towel. "Listen to you! Maybe you should see Dr Martin," mused Elizabeth.

Ember, who was now being led upstairs to her room, groaned, "Ah, not him! I swear he hates me!" Paused she. "Don't you have a healing dragon that could help me? So I won't have to see Dr Martin?"

"Now, now," chided Elizabeth. "Dr Martin doesn't hate you, now, if you tried to stay still…"

"I try but he has all the cool stuff in there like the skeleton!" Ranted Ember, who broke into another fit of coughing, her body shaking.

Elizabeth sighed and continued to lead her daughter up the stairs into a small room. The mottled, ember-and-black walls glowed in the sunlight that streamed through the window, the blankets on the bed thrown off onto the floor. "Well maybe if you left alone the skeleton and other things, he wouldn't be irritated," suggested Elizabeth as she walked over to the window and closed the curtains, the room darkening. Turning, she walked over to Ember who was lying in her bed and picked up the blankets, placing them back on her daughter. "Now will you get some sleep?"

Ember stared up at her mother with innocent golden eyes. "Maybe."

Elizabeth chortled softly, leaning over and gently kissing Ember's forehead. "Get some rest," murmured she before closing the door to the room and leaving.

Ember held her breath as she listened to the fading footsteps of her mother. She scrambled out of bed and crept over to the door, grabbing the door handle and twisting it open slowly.

_Hrr!_

The young girl jumped and scolded softly, "Gruffen! Don't do that please! Why are you here anyway?"

The small, clay dragon glared at Ember and replied with an irritated _hrr_.

"My mom sent you to guard the door?"

The little dragon nodded, blowing a smoke ring out of his nose.

Ember groaned and closed the door softly, pacing around her room. She walked over to the window and peaked out, seeing her sister, Lucy, searching for something. Most likely the one-eyed squirrel, Conker.

The trapped girl sighed and continued her pacing, muttering to herself. With an exasperated sigh, she sat on her bed and fell backwards, thumping against the mattress and staring up at the mottled ceiling. More hacking escaped from her chest, racking her thin body. "Stupid cough," muttered she.

Ember continued to stare up at the ceiling, her hands tapping together. _Too bad I already got Lucy's birthday stuff all ready…_

Suddenly, her golden eyes lit up and Ember bolted upright onto her feet, bounding toward the door. Flinging it open, she ignored Gruffen and raced downstairs.

"Ember, didn't I tell you too respite?" Called Elizabeth.

"Yeah, but I have to ask you something," replied Ember.

"And what would that be," posed her mother, looking over her shoulder at Ember from the dishes.

After a few moments of coughing, Ember rasped, "Can I make a dragon?"

Elizabeth sighed and put down the cup into the sink, turning to face her daughter. "All right, but after that you must get some rest!"

"Thank you," chirped Ember as she bounded over to the table and sat down, her mother leaving the room.

Soon, Elizabeth came back, carrying a board with a lump of clay on top. "Remember to keep your eyes closed and imagine your dragon."

Ember nodded and stared at the clay that was rested in front of her before putting her hands on it, enjoying the coldness seeping from the wet clay onto her hands as she closed her golden eyes.

**xXx**

Ember opened her golden eyes once she finished creating her dragon, and smiled widely.

In front of her stood a small dragon, but it was different from the others.

It stood on all four paws, slits on the toes showing where the claws would sheath and unsheathe. Where the scales should have been on her body, were feathers. There were no spines on her back either, just feathers. The wings were out from the dragon, as if it was ready for flight; its wings were also feathered, like the wings on a Pegasus. The creature's head was rounded, almost, with no horns. The eyes were open and gazing forward, seemingly shaped like human eyes, not scalene shaped eyes like dragons would have. The dragon's neck was thick yet slender, feathers seemed to be slightly bristling on the neck. Its tail was long and slender as well, and the tip was smooth, no triangle tip or scalene or an isosceles tip at all. **(If you want a picture, you can look up _Greatest Battle Music of All Times - Heart of Courage _on YouTube or on Google Images, it might be found on Bing but I'm not sure. And it's my avatar! :D)**

"Done," breathed Ember, grinning at her new dragon.

Elizabeth smiled and asked, "What are you going to name it?"

"Her," corrected the young girl. I'm going to name her Gahara." Her mother walked over and took the board carefully off the table.

"I'm going to kindle her. You want her to have life, correct?"

Ember nodded and watched as her mother disappeared up the stairs. Yawning, she stood and stumbled up after her mother, past the Dragon's Den and into her room, closing the door shut and crawling into bed, under her blankets, falling into troubled sleep.

**A new story! :D I was dying to start typing it, so I'm really glad I'm now starting it!**

**And yes, no flames because I made Gahara different from Gruffen and the others, I don't care. That's how I wanted her too look and if you don't like it, don't read it.**

**Also, I was trying to write like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes series because I like how it flows and sounds. :3 Call me weird, I don't care.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ember jolted awake and sat up quickly, heart pounding, breathing shallow and quick as she rubbed her eyes and cracked them open, everything a blur. Once her vision finally adjusted, she scrambled out of bed, throwing the blankets to the side and bounded to her door, trying, and failing, to hold back a cough.

Yanking it open, she thudded downstairs and burst into the kitchen. "Mom!" She called, seeing Elizabeth filling Bonnington's food bowl. "Is Gahara done?"

Elizabeth smiled and stood. "I believe so, let me check to make sure," with that, she straightened and left the kitchen and up the stairs. Ember seated herself at the table, squirming with excitement. _Finally, my very own dragon! _She thought happily as she heard her mother come back down, and saw Elizabeth carrying her glazed dragon down the stairs with her.

Ember bounced in her seat as her dragon was rested on the table in front of her and she spoke, "Gahara." The dragon's head twitched and the feathers along its neck flattened and her eyes opened, revealing vibrant purple eyes.

What was odd, though, is that Gahara wasn't the normal green-blue colored dragon. She had a white body and her feathers along her neck, spine, and tail were black and scars covered her body. Five scars on her head, one across the bridge of her nose, one across her left eye, but only covering the skin, and the other three were on her check, like scratches. The rest of the scars were on her body. Two long scars went down her neck and stopped, so they were in the middle. Three scratches covered the bottom of her neck while three others covered her belly. Three rested at the base of her tail and there was one scar on three of her legs.

Gahara snorted and blew a few smoke rings, flapping her feathered wings before folding them up to her side. Ember grinned and held out her hand. The dragon sniffed it and strode over to her and slipped off the table and into Ember's lap. Ember, still grinning, gently stroked her dragon. Before lifting Gahara up and resting her on her shoulder.

With a snort, the white feathered dragon sat down and her head bobbed up and down as Ember bounded upstairs to show Gahara her room.

**xXx**

Elizabeth smiled as Ember bounded upstairs with Gahara and head the doorbell ring and said a silent thank you before opening it, seeing a young man standing there, looking awkward. "Um, I'm David Rain," he said, sticking out his hand.

Elizabeth smiled and shook it. "Elizabeth Pennykettle, but you can call me Liz."

He nodded and followed her into the house, gazing around, seeing clay dragons here and there and their cat eating from his food bowl. "Lucy is outside and Ember is upstairs," Elizabeth explained to him. "So, I would take the silence when it comes."

"Okay," he agreed and followed his landlady as she showed him his bedroom.

**xXx**

Ember told Gahara to stay still once she heard the doorbell and rested her dragon on the nightstand next to her bed, opening the window. She turned and was about to leave before she hesitated. Ember took Gahara and brought her to the window and rested her on the windowsill so the dragon could see outside. With that, the young girl bounded out of her room and down the stairs, still dressed in her pajamas.

"Are you David?" Ember asked, looking at the tenant.

David smiled at the small girl and nodded. "Yes I am! And you must be…" He glanced at her ragged fiery red hair and finished, "Ember?"

Ember smiled and nodded. "That's me! Lucy is still outside." She turned to her mother and asked, "Can I go outside?"

"Fine, but change first and come in if you start to cough badly!" Elizabeth sighed and Ember shot up the stairs. Turning to face a worried David, she assured, "I think she has asthma. Nothing contagious nor life threatening."

David breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks for showing me around, I should go bring my boxes inside."

**xXx**

Ember raced outside wearing torn, dirt covered jeans and a faded white t-shirt. "Lucy!" She called and her sister turned to look at her. "Mom finally let me make a dragon!"

Lucy grinned and asked, "Is your dragon done?"

"Yep! She's up there!" Ember pointed up to her bedroom window and showed her sister her dragon. "Her name is Gahara."

"Cool," Lucy breathed, seeing the outline of Gahara. "She should be Gwendolyn sometimes!"

Ember nodded in agreement and bounded around in search for the one-eyed squirrel.

**xXx**

Soon, both girls clomped into the house, Ember wheezing. "Ember, I told you to come in if your coughing got worse!"

Ember shrugged. "I was fine. Right, Lucy?"

"She's right!" Lucy agreed.

Elizabeth sighed and ordered, "Both of you get a shower before dinner." The girls nodded and left. She shook her head and drifted into the kitchen to put everything together.

**xXx**

Ember walked into her room and gently picked up Gahara, bringing her into Lucy's room. "Here she is!" Ember chirped, showing her sister her dragon.

"She's beautiful!" Lucy gasped and gently took Gahara from her sister, admiring her. "But why does she have all these scars?"

"I'm not sure," Ember admitted, "that's just how she was kindled."


End file.
